By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Newport Central Catholic coach Ron Dawn was dejected after his team’s loss in the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys Sweet 16 state basketball tournament on Saturday, but he refused to let it cast a shadow on what the Thoroughbreds accomplished this season.
After Lexington Dunbar defeated NewCath, 55-47, in the semifinals at Rupp Arena, Dawn pointed out that hundreds of teams compete for a single state title in Kentucky and his team made it to the final four in the statewide playoffs.
“With no classification, only one team gets to go home happy,” Dawn said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t us, but I’ll take what we got. I don’t know how many schools compete for this thing and we made it to the final four. And we were right there at the end with a chance to win this game.”
A layup by NewCath senior forward Ben Weyer cut Dunbar’s lead to 44-41 with 2:41 left in the fourth quarter. But the Thoroughbreds committed turnovers on three of their next four possessions and Dunbar was able to pull away for the victory.
NewCath finishes the season with a 30-5 record. Dunbar (32-6) will play Louisville Doss in the championship final at 2 p.m. Sunday.
NewCath ended up with more turnovers (16) than field goals (14) in the state semifinal game. Dunbar took advantage of those give-aways by scoring 22 points off turnovers.
“I’ve got to give (Dunbar) a lot of credit, they were quick, strong and very aggressive defensively,” Dawn said. “They do a great job of getting out and pressuring the ball and getting in passing lanes. They really take advantage of their athleticism.”
Dunbar scored 10 points off turnovers in the first half, including a slam dunk on a breakaway by center Dontell Brown that put the Bulldogs ahead, 14-9, early in the second quarter.
NewCath battled back and took a 29-27 lead on a pair of free throws by Weyer with 1:52 left in the half. Neither team scored on its next two possessions so that was the score at the break.
Dunbar regained the lead early in the third quarter and stayed on top the rest of the game. In the second half, the Bulldogs were 9-of-17 from the field for 52.9 percent while the Thoroughbreds were 5-of-15 for 30 percent.
“Just like coach said, they were being really aggressive in the passing lanes,” said NewCath junior guard Luke Moeves. “They kept pushing us out (on offensive sets) so it kind of kept us out of sync a little bit more than usual.”
Dunbar coach Scott Chalk said his team needed to put defensive pressure on the Thoroughbreds to make it difficult for them to effectively run their offense like they did in their first two state tournament victories.
“We’d seen them play before (the state tournament) and they had a little bit of trouble with that kind of thing,” Chalk said. “It’s harder to make (shots) when you’re not getting your normal kind of look so we tried to do that.”
Dunbar forward Darius Williams took game-high scoring honors with 20 points, followed by teammate Taveion Hollingsworth with 18. NewCath’s leading scorers were Weyer with 16 points and Moeves with 14. Weyer also had nine rebounds and two blocked shots, but he committed six of his team’s 16 turnovers.
Weyer and sophomore guard Brennan Hall were the NewCath players named to the state all-tournament team. Weyer had three-game totals of 62 points, 34 rebounds, nine blocks and seven assists in his first state tournament appearance.
NewCath made it to the post-season state tournament for the first time since 2000 and reached the semifinals for the first time since 1953. Weyer knows it took more than him to make all that happen.
“I don’t know when it clicked, but we all kind of became brothers and got real close,” he said. “I think that showed on the court in the way we played. I’m going to miss these guys a lot.”
NEWCATH 9 20 8 10 — 47
DUNBAR 10 17 13 15 — 55
NEWCATH (30-5): Weyer 4 6 16, Hall 4 0 9, B. Anderson 1 2 4, Moeves 4 3 14, E. Anderson 0 2 2, Neff 1 0 2. Totals: 14 13 47.
DUNBAR (32-6): Kelley 1 2 4, Williams 7 6 20, D. Brown 3 0 6, Lewis 2 1 5, Hollingsworth 7 4 18, J. Bown 1 0 2. Totals: 21 13 55.
3-pointers: NC – Moeves 3, Weyer 2, Hall.